Cuomo Spends Night at a Homeless Shelter

By SHAILA K. DEWAN

Published: August 24, 2002

At the end of a speech yesterday on his plan to reduce homelessness, Andrew M. Cuomo announced with a flourish that he was going to spend the night in a shelter in order to "bring light to places that have been in darkness for too long." Hours later, he headed to Bedford-Stuyvesant, where he bedded down for the night in a private room with his running mate.

Early in the day, Mr. Cuomo, who is running in the Democratic primary for governor, called a news conference on his homeless plan, which includes using state pension fund money to build housing and creating a state "land bank" for inexpensive housing. His opponent, H. Carl McCall, had done the same on Thursday, saying that he, too, would build more housing and make sure more apartments remained under rent regulation.

Mr. Cuomo's announcement brought a strong reaction from City Hall, where Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has recently run into trouble for temporarily placing homeless families in a jail. Members of his administration said that a Cuomo campaign worker had called a city shelter yesterday, asking if the candidate could spend the night.

"Obviously our priority is to provide shelter to those without homes," said Jim Anderson, a spokesman for the Department of Homeless Services. "The current shortage of shelter beds makes this inquiry all the more surprising and inappropriate."

But Peter Ragone, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said that no such inquiry had been made. The campaign two days earlier had already chosen a shelter run by the Doe Fund, Inc., which is not funded by the city, he said.

On the way to the Gates Avenue shelter for men, and as the driver of his Ford Expedition cruised past an establishment called Larry's Liquid Love: A Sophisticated Place, Mr. Cuomo removed his tie in preparation for his arrival.

Nazarene Griffin, the shelter's program director, showed Mr. Cuomo and Charlie King, who is running for lieutenant governor, to the clean little room they would be sharing for the night. "You're not displacing anyone," Mr. Griffin said, explaining that the room belonged to men who had weekend passes to leave.

An aide to Cuomo laid a pressed gingham shirt and trousers on Mr. Cuomo's bed.

"That's the difference between governor and lieutenant governor," Mr. King said.

Mr. Griffin led the way to the pool room, where a man named David was watching television. "How long have you been here, David?" Mr Cuomo asked.

"Seven months," came the answer.

"Where were you before?"

David paused. "On the streets," he said.

"Did you have a chemical dependency problem?" asked Mr. Cuomo, who began a non-profit program for the homeless in the 80's, and who said he had spent the night in shelters before. "Is this the longest time you've been clean?"

"It must feel good, huh?"

Yes, yes, yes, David said.

Doing research? Search the archive for more than 500,000 articles: Today's News Past Week Past 30 Days Past 90 Days Past Year Since 1996